What's impressive to me is both the quantity and quality of Freja's work at this stage in her career. She debuted in 2005 and four years later she's still going strong. Perhaps this signals Freja as one of the few models who is able to transcend the trendy and transition into respected longevity? I guess only time will tell us for sure how indelible her mark on fashion will be.

After looking back at all the names and publications Freja worked with this year, my only wish is that we saw her working more with the three big Vogues--US, Paris, and Italia. I know we can completely discount Vogue US ever happening, but her omission from Vogue Paris and near omission from Vogue Italia is disappointing to me, especially when you consider the wonderful work she produced for them early on in her career. And this is why I think she's grossly underrated as a model when you compare her to colleagues of her status and popularity like Natasha, Sasha, Lily, Raquel and Lara.

Freja is well known enough but she hasn't quite reached that threshold where it's a given that she'll only be working with the best month after month. In fact, if it weren't for Karl I don't know how much work we'd be seeing from her. And often times I think her popularity among fans is mainly fueled by rumors, gossip and whatever personal ideals we see embodied in her, rather than by a grounding in her work and career development. Not that that's necessarily bad, but I just think the fandom is too extreme in one direction and not enough in the other. And if I've learned anything in life it's that balance is the key. Having dedicated fans is great, but without serious backing from people like Carine and Anna, how much longer can Freja last? And you'd think that with the fervor over her in China she'd at least have more coverage in Vogue China. Maybe someone should channel all that extraneous energy over there into a letter writing campaign for the Vogue China cover....just a thought.

With the luxury of retrospect at our disposal, it's much easier to see the variety and range of Freja's work. Any favorite eds? Least favorites? Who do you think she works best with? And whether you like it or not, retrospect also makes it easier to discern the androgynous thread that unrelentingly runs through most of Freja's work. Hopefully though, this upcoming year will allow her some opportunities to snip away at this thread.

Anyway, I think I've covered all the editorials, but if I've left something out please let me know. 2009 started off very well for Freja so let's hope 2010 will be the same. And if Freja can replicate the type of fabulous and diverse work she did during the month of September, I think she'll be well on her way towards cementing her status at the top and ensuring her longevity in the industry for as longs she wants...assuming that that's what she wants.

6 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Thank you for the recaps.

I'd love to see Freja in Vogue Paris & Italia too.

I think maybe because she's seen the go-to model to androgynous, grungy looks, so she doesn't get as many editorials (diversification-wise) as Sasha or Natasha. People have created a niche for Freja, and I hope she gets out of that little niche soon! At this point I won't even mind seeing her in frills and laces...

My favorite ed would definitely be "clean living" from feb i-D. I love Collier Schorr and Freja is perfect for the type of work she does. Least favorite would be that Terry ed, it was so gross. I like the contrast you made b/t the two in that one post. There is a way to do tasteful nudity, even tasteful ~trashy~ nudity and I don't think Terry knows or cares to know how to execute that. But yeah all in all its been a great ed year for Freja. Hope for more in 2010, though I think this may be the year of Karl+Freja which I could honestly use less of.

About

This is a blog dedicated to the amazingly beautiful and mysterious Danish model Freja Beha Erichsen, with whom I have no personal connection. I am merely an admirer and here you will find my opinions, thoughts and long musings in addition to any news and updates about Freja that may occur.